Vickerman back in action

The British

& Irish Lions

Tour to New Zealand 2017

Vickerman back in action

Former Australia vice-captain Daniel Vickerman has made a successful if not spectacular return to rugby since injuring his shoulder on the Wallabies' tour to the northern hemisphere last November.

Vickerman came on just after half-time for Sydney University in the New South Wales competition, the Shute Shield, and played a solid 25 minutes of rugby.

And while he showed a bit of rustiness by giving away a lineout penalty in his first play of the game, the powerful lock was happy to have completed another step in his comeback to international rugby.

"You do a lot of training and it's good to see the rewards of that out on the field," Vickerman told the Sydney Morning Herald.

It is Vickerman's second comeback from surgery on his right shoulder after undergoing the same procedure two years ago.

He injured the shoulder again in the Tri-nations against South Africa last year and then re-injured it against Wales in November.

This time around the towering lock has spent his recovery building up his muscle mass and off-field fitness to another level.

Wallabies assistant coach John Muggleton, who has been working on strength training with Vickerman, said the 27-year-old is looked bigger and stronger than ever.

"He looks good. He looks fit and ready to go," Muggleton said.

"He is getting a lot of force behind his runs."

Muggleton insists Vickerman needs as much game-time as he can get to find his timing and develop match-fitness, but expects him to be part of the 30-man Wallabies squad for the first Test against Wales in two weeks time.

However, Wallabies and Sydney Uni team-mate Brett Sheehan suffered a setback in his attempt to make the squad for the Wales clash after being after being concussed in Saturday afternoon's match.

Sheehan accidentally collided with of his own players and had to be assisted from the field after just 20 minutes of the match.